Arc de TriompheParis

It has been said that from the moment a French motorist enters the
Étoile, until the moments he escapes, his motor insurance is invalid. No doubt
such a story is apocryphal (or maybe it isn't), but get a taxi driver to take
you through, and you'll understand why it might not be - he barges in with
barely an acknowledgement of those who have – sans choix –
given way, heading for the centre, and then dives for an exit with just a hint
of 'Ça ne fait rien'. It's a brief whirlwind of insanity, excitement and
teeth-gritting absurdity...and best seen from above. On the way, don't be
surprised if you pass some encycled baguette-wielding daredevil who's been in
there for days, trying to find the way out.

Twelve avenues radiate from this roundabout of madness, like
beams of light thrusting from beneath the triumphal arch erected by Napoleon in
honour of his victorious Grande Armée. And yet, in spite of the names of 128
battles of the first French Republic and Napoleon's Empire being written on the
walls beneath the vault, together with the identity of the generals who took
part in them, and the fact that his cortege passed through the arch in 1840,
the Arc de Triomphe is not so much a monument of glory to a great emperor, as a
symbol of La France.

Beneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from
World War I, interred on Armistice Day 1920, it has the first eternal flame lit
in Western and Eastern Europe since the Vestal Virgins' fire was extinguished
in the fourth century. Flickering in the breeze, it burns in memory of the dead
of two World Wars who were never identified, and according to some accounts, has
been extinguished only once – by a drunken Mexican football supporter on the
night that France beat Brazil in the 1998 World Cup Final.

VISITOR INFORMATION

The Arc de Triomphe is accessible by the RER and Métro, with
exit at the Charles de Gaulle-Étoile station.

Because of heavy traffic on the roundabout of which the Arc
is the centre, pedestrians are recommended to use one of two underpasses
located at the Champs Élysées and the Avenue de la Grande Armée.

A lift takes visitors almost to the top, where there is a
small museum containing models of the Arc, and telling its story from the time
of its construction. Forty-six (46) steps remain to climb to reach the very
top, the terrasse, from where you can enjoy a panoramic view of Paris.

Arc de triomphePlace Charles de
Gaulle, 75008 Paris

Open:Apr-Sep 1000-2300: Oct-Mar 1000-2230

Closed:1st January, 1st May, 8th May (morning), 14th July
(morning),11th November (morning) and 25th December

Tel: 01 55 37 73 77www.paris-arc-de-triomphe.fr/en

Noble in its grandeur, the arch exudes an almost religious
quality, eminently suitable for great occasions such as the lying in state of
Victor Hugo in 1885, before his body, attended by over 800,000 mourners was
borne away on a simple hearse; or in 1919, on the 14th July, when a Victory
Procession, led by Haig, Pershing, Joffre and Foch, passed beneath its vaulted
roof.

Four sculptural groups at the base of the Arc represent great
episodes in the life of a people who went to war in spite of their dislike of
it. They represent the Triumph of 1810, Resistance and Peace, and the finest of them all, Departure of the
Volunteers of 1792, commonly called La Marseillaise, her wings widespread in allegorical
representation of France calling forth her people. Since the fall of Napoleon
(1815), the sculpture representing Peace is interpreted as commemorating the
Peace of 1815.